Rapidly Estimated Seismic Source Parameters for the 16 September 2015 Illapel, Chile M w 8.3 Earthquake

On 16 September 2015, a great (M (w) 8.3) interplate thrust earthquake ruptured offshore Illapel, Chile, producing a 4.7-m local tsunami. The last major rupture in the region was a 1943 M (S) 7.9 event. Seismic methods for rapidly characterizing the source process, of value for tsunami warning, were applied. The source moment tensor could be obtained robustly by W-phase inversion both within minutes (Chilean researchers had a good solution using regional data within 5 min) and within an hour using broadband seismic data. Short-period teleseismic P wave back-projections indicate northward rupture expansion from the hypocenter at a modest rupture expansion velocity of 1.5-2.0 km/s. Finite-fault inversions of teleseismic P and SH waves using that range of rupture velocities and a range of dips from 16A degrees, consistent with the local slab geometry and some moment tensor solutions, to 22A degrees, consistent with long-period moment tensor inversions, indicate a 180- to 240-km bilateral along-strike rupture zone with larger slip northwest to north of the epicenter (with peak slip of 7-10 m). Using a shallower fault model dip shifts slip seaward toward the trench, while a steeper dip moves it closer to the coastline. Slip separates into two patches as assumed rupture velocity increases. In all cases, localized similar to 5 m slip extends down-dip below the coast north of the epicenter. The seismic moment estimates for the range of faulting parameters considered vary from 3.7 x 10(21) Nm (dip 16A degrees) to 2.7 x 10(21) Nm (dip 22A degrees), the static stress drop estimates range from 2.6 to 3.5 MPa, and the radiated seismic energy, up to 1 Hz, is about 2.2-3.15 x 10(16) J.